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Placer County, California
Placer County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, in what is known as the Gold Country. It stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. Because of the expansion of the Sacramento metropolitan area, Placer County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state. It is also considered one of the more politically and morally conservative counties and has less ethnic diversity than is found in other suburban regions of California. As of 2000, the population was 248,399. In 2004, the population had grown to 307,004. The county seat is Auburn. History Placer County was created from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties in 1851. "Placer" is probably a contraction of the words plaza de oro (the place of gold) and in Spanish means "a place near a river where gold is found." The county derived its name from the numerous places where the method of extracting gold from the earth, called placer mining, was practiced. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3892 km² (1503 sq mi). 3637 km² (1404 sq mi) of it is land and 255 km² (98 sq mi) of it (6.55%) is water. Watercourses in Placer County include the American River and Bunch Creek. Incorporated Cities *Auburn *Colfax *Lincoln *Rocklin *Roseville Incorporated Towns *Loomis Unincorporated Places *Dollar Point *Dutch Flat *Foresthill *Granite Bay *Kings Beach *Meadow Vista *Newcastle *North Auburn *Olympic Valley *Penryn *Sheridan *Sunnyside-Tahoe City *Tahoe Vista Adjacent Counties * El Dorado County - south * Sacramento County - southwest * Sutter County - west * Yuba County - northwest * Nevada County - north * Washoe County - east * Carson City - east * Douglas County - southeast Transportation Infrastructure Major Highways * Interstate 80 * California State Route 28 * California State Route 49 * California State Route 65 * California State Route 89 * California State Route 174 * California State Route 267 Public Transportation *Placer County Transit provides basic bus service primarily along the I-80 corridor between Alta and the Watt Ave. Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station. PCT also runs commuter service to Downtown Sacramento. *The cities of Auburn, Lincoln, and Roseville have their own local transit service. *Gold Country Stage (Nevada County) provides a connection between Auburn and Grass Valley. *Tahoe Area Rapid Transit operates in Truckee (Nevada County), Tahoe City and along the North Shore of Lake Tahoe to Incline Village. *Greyhound and Amtrak provide long distance intercity service. Airports There are three general aviation airports in Placer County: *Lincoln Regional Airport *Auburn Airport *Tahoe-Truckee Airport Demographics As of the census² of 2000, there were 248,399 people, 93,382 households, and 67,701 families residing in the county. The population density was 68/km² (177/sq mi). There were 107,302 housing units at an average density of 30/km² (76/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.59% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 0.89% Native American, 2.95% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 3.39% from other races, and 3.21% from two or more races. 9.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 89.7% spoke English and 6.0% Spanish as their first language. There were 93,382 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.40% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.50% were non-families. 21.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.06. In the county the population was spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $57,535, and the median income for a family was $65,858. Males had a median income of $50,410 versus $33,763 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,963. About 3.90% of families and 5.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.30% of those under age 18 and 3.80% of those age 65 or over. Politics Placer is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Placer is part of California's 4th congressional district, which is held by Republican John Doolittle. In the State Assembly, Placer is part of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th districts, which are held by Republicans Rick Keene, Ted Gaines, and Roger Niello respectively. In the State Senate, Placer is mostly in the 1st district with parts in the 4th district. Both districts are held by Republicans, Dave Cox and Sam Aanestad respectively. References See also *List of school districts in Placer County External links *Official Placer County website *West Placer Community Forums *Placer County Seat Information *Placer County Library Category:Counties of California Category:Placer County, California